The Newsletter

Issue no. 59|16 December, 2011

Brief Reminder

The deadline for submissions in the 500th cast celebration is Christmas Eve. We’d love to hear from you, and you might win an individual license for life. If you don’t know what that is, go here. (We've sent this newsletter out early, so that you have some extra days to get your entry in.) Feel free to bring tears to our eyes. All the others have! ;-)

Assume Positive Intent

We’ve said before that why matters about the future, but not about the past. Think about that for a second.

Why matters when we’re thinking about the future. It helps our associates make decisions about their work. When someone knows why they are doing something, they can choose the path that addresses the why rather than just the what.

In the Army, Mike and I learned this through something called, “Commander’s Intent.” If soldiers knew what their leader wanted, they could make better choices when the proverbial stuff hit the fan. As the saying goes, no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. So everybody better understand more than just the details of the plan.

BUT, why doesn’t matter when we’re thinking about why our directs did something. Look, people always intend to have good outcomes. When a direct makes a mistake, and, as a manager, we choose to point it out, they often want to talk about why they did what they did. Of course they do! Their intent is always good!

Ask yourself – do you really intend to go out and make mistakes? Of course you don’t. Well, neither do your directs. That means they meant to do it right, but it came out wrong. That’s not necessarily great, but it beats hell out of them intending to mess it up.

But we managers sometimes slip here, and we attack their intentions. We assume that they have to have had a bad idea at the heart of what they did.

Alas, it’s just not so. And, if you know the feedback model, you know we don’t do ourselves any good by talking about their intent, or their mindset, or their emotional state, or their attitude. They can argue about that stuff.

So, here’s what I’ve learned. Assume they meant well. Because they did. Assume they were trying to solve the problem. Because they were. Assume they were trying to help. Because they were. Assume positive intent. Because that’s what they had.

You’ll let go a little of the anger you sometimes carry around. It will make your job a little easier. And you’ll be right more often.

And you’ll be able to do what Mike does – chuckle when he gives feedback – a lot more often.

And

To all of our community members, wherever you may be in this vast and glorious world: may there be peace in your home and health in your family during this special season.

And for those soldiers and sailors around the globe ensuring the peace that too many of us take for granted - and too few of us have - I offer you our thanks and prayers for safety.

Merry Christmas all.

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